Mothman 2023
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artist: Peter Parnall : cover illustration for Mothman Prophecies by John Keel, 1st edition.
Cryptid designs are fun and challenging for the same reason: there is no single agreed upon depiction of an undiscovered creature. This leaves a lot of room for artists to explore, which inspired me to make “Many Faces of Mothman.” Varying descriptions of this famous West Virginian cryptid have led to countless iterations through the years.
For this collection I searched for primary sources from the earliest sightings of Mothman, drawing inspiration from the Mallette and Scarberry eyewitness accounts. The Mallettes and Scarberrys described the creature they saw outside The TNT Area as having the body of a muscular man 6 or 7 feet tall, with wings and glowing red, circular eyes.
I also drew inspiration from Peter Parnall’s cover illustration for the 1st edition of Mothman Prophecies by John Keel.
I went against the original description to moth antennas, just because they’re cool.
Exploratory Sketches of Mothman
Many Faces of Mothman
Hero Design
I drew six different takes on Mothman for this design, challenging myself to use different mark-making for each one. Their wings and faces are inspired by owls, ghosts, and bugs.
Sticker Design
Mothman of Point Pleasant, West Virginia
I took my favorite elements from the various Mothmen I’d drawn for my pattern to make one sticker design. The goal was something resembling a souvenir from a National Park
